Hello all,
Well, the demonstration by Kosa Nishiyama sense on Thursday went very well. I'm sure those of you who attended will agree. Her expertise and talent were surpassed only by her elegance and grace. From the distance of my seat I was not able to take good photographs. However, my student Lei, a budding photographer, has taken hundreds of photos, the best of which will be featured on the Sogetsu Victoria blog in due course.
I was asked to make a welcoming arrangement, which was to be placed at the entrance of the theatre. It was the arrangement, above, which I photographed after I brought it home because the background was too busy. However, I designed it to reflect that very same, busy background with its geometric patterns of glass and metal.
The structure is made with the dried stems of the New Zealand flax flowers. This material is quite soft and light, making it relatively easy to create interesting structures. For the flowers I raided my strelitzia reginae clump, which is flowering prolifically and filled the large, ceramic container with smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria).
On Saturday Nishiyama sense conducted two workshops. The theme for the morning workshop was 'A Freestyle Arrangement Incorporating Paper'. Nishiyama sense demonstrated two arrangements on the theme.
The attendees were to bring only a container, tools and paper. The materials were provided by the organizers, so we had no idea what to expect.
My bunch of materials comprised of two cycad fronds, three aspidistra leaves and a branch of callistemon. The heavy paper I had brought was two sided with a mottled green on one side and blue on the other. By folding it at the two ends, both colours were visible. I used only one flower of the callistemon at the back for a little bit of colour contrast.
By the time I brought the arrangement home the callistemon had wilted so I replaced it with a heliconia.
Lucy used a thick, textured paper with monstera deliciosa leaves and pin cushion flowers (leucospermum).
Vicky made a very cheeky arrangement using her palm leaves, placed up-side-down in her container with squares of white paper attached to the stems. The heliconias added both colour and height.
The theme for the afternoon workshop was 'Disassembling and Rearranging the Material'. Nishiyama sense stressed the point that the material must be taken apart and then reassembled in a completely different way. In the bunch of materials that I was given I had three stems of Pleomele Song of India and some heliconias. I removed all the leaves from the stem and threaded them together with wire. I then attached the 'skirt' along half of the opening of the container. I added two of the now denuded stems into the arrangement to create lines.
Lucy's container was too large for her materials so she decided to keep the arrangement small and to allow the container to be the main feature. She separated the leaves of the palm and rejoined them vertically. She, also. separated the heliconia petals and rearranged them and added them to the front.
My family and I had the honour of hosting Nishiyama sense and her assistant, Ms Tomoyo Koiwai to dinner on Friday. It was a most enjoyable evening for all of us, so much so, that we forgot to take any photos. Below is the arrangement I had prepared for the dinner table. I used Louisiana iris and smoke bush in a self made container.
I had left over materials after the workshops and could not bear to let them go to waste. When I got home I quickly made a couple of arrangements with them. Below is the photo of an arrangement using tortuous willow which I loosely intertwined and two stunningly beautiful peonies.
On Saturday evening we all had dinner at the Kew Golf Club. Again, a very enjoyable evening except that this time some members took photos and I can share one with you.
Bye for now,
Emily
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